


what the water gave me

by manubibi



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M, merman Haru
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-23
Updated: 2015-07-23
Packaged: 2018-04-10 21:00:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4407479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manubibi/pseuds/manubibi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Mermaid!AU] <i>It's always a bit melancholic, if it's not one of those days when he regrets it all, when he thinks it's unfair. Because then, from the mere surface of the vast, immense Ocean, pops up the face that has been making him turn to every single stupid stereotype about a lovestruck teenager he has ever heard of. Except, generally mermaids are not the kind of people lovestruck teenagers fall for.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	what the water gave me

The sand feels like dying fire under his soles, and that sensation seems to translates to the cloudy sky as evening quietly, without ado, yawns into darkness. There the boy stands, with his skin and eyes feeding off it, the bright pallor of his skin not shining as it has all day, with a gentle wind poking his skin until his almost invisible hair raise up, and a shiver focuses on his shoulders like the day's fatigue.   
And yet even though the sun has made the sand almost unbearable to stand on, he waits, only dipping his feet into the waves that splash on the shore when cold air turns everyone else away, leaving him alone on a big stripe of land.   
He waits, having learnt patience from days and weeks of this ritual. It is alright, though.   
  
As the warmth leaves, he knows the time has come to start walking to the port, silently making his way to the piers and walking along one, with his feet making heavy thuds on the wooden surface, with sand still grasping to the skin under his feet. The anticipation makes his eyes shine as if the sun was still trapped into them, together with its warmth, or at least he feels like that. Happy, and grateful.   
As soon as he reaches the end, he looks over to the vast, peaceful and yet scary body of water as if it was home.   
It is to part of him anyway.  
He sits down, patiently, with his feet tickling the water's surface gently, and the Ocean does produce ripples on itself, as if it was laughing instead of being slightly agitated by the late evening's breeze.    
"And now we wait..." he murmurs against the fresher salty air, rubbing his hands on his bare forearms, with his feet still dangling. They draw quiet circles and lines on the water's skin, he looks down sometimes at his calves, hums, sings a little to pass the time.  
  
And eventually, bubbles tickle his feet, his signal that he's finally arrived. His heart begins to thump, not out of fear or nervousness, but happiness. And if he had to dig, he would find sadness too. It's always a bit melancholic, if it's not one of those days when he regrets it all, when he thinks it's unfair. Because then, from the mere surface of the vast, immense Ocean, pops up the face that has been making him turn to every single stupid stereotype about a lovestruck teenager he has ever heard of. Except, generally mermaids are not the kind of people lovestruck teenagers fall for.  
He smiles, with his eyes organically turning into what would look like melted candy.   
"Haru-chan," he calls gently, with that giant grin not wanting to disappear from his face.  
Haruka, the merman, has big, deep, pure blue eyes, such pretty gems that Nagisa dreams about at night; his hair is dark, like the depths of his world - and Nagisa's is, to continue the analogy, as light as the sky when the Sun hits its zenith. But the most notable of his features, other than stray scales spread here and there on his torso, arms and neck like mermaids were once completely covered, but lost most of the scales with time, is his long, elegant, beautiful scale that seems to reflect all the colors the light splits into only for Nagisa's eyes, so many that at times it feels like he is made of light. He's a miraculously beautiful creature, but at night one could only see so little of it.  
Not that anyone should.   
He looks up, and gives back just a little smile at Nagisa, but with so much happiness it feels like he is glowing. He is much more content than he would even have imagined to be, but still the water called back for him too loudly, too insistently to refuse its embrace again. The day he gained his tail back, Nagisa could not see for the tears and could not cry for the effort of not making Haruka feel bad. After all, he could not tear him away from his place. He could not force him to live on land, where people would never understand.   
As he thinks about it, his smile turns to a grimace, which Haruka instantly catches.   
"Nagisa?" He murmurs, already saddened, with so much silence filling up for him, so many questions and regret mixing up. Maybe they should stop seeing each other. Maybe meeting at all was a mistake. But Nagisa smiles again, makes himself carry through. He is a man, he is not going to cry.   
He is not a child anymore. And Haruka taught him not to rely on tears, not to run away.  
  
The merman stretches an arm up, a request to hold the human, which Nagisa considers for a few seconds before nodding, and splashing into the cold water, but he will not notice how it feels. Haruka's arms wrap around him, and for a fleeting moment he thinks, I could die like this. Except Haruka would never allow the water to hurt him. He is like that, silent, but affectionate, kind, and most of all pure in his love. He almost gave up his nature, his world, all the things he knew only to be with Nagisa. And Nagisa would die to stop feeling all those twenty hours of separation every day. He wishes it was normal, easier. If Haruka was a human, he would love him exactly the same way, and they would have a chance. He would admire him all the time, keep in contact in an easier way. But since that is not the case, all they have are secret nights in the Ocean for which the blond fisherman has no excuse left, and yet does not care. His arms also wrap around the merman's neck, tight, his lips find their way to the other boy's neck, and nibble gently on the skin, careless about the salted water entering his mouth. He is probably going to be sick, later, but later he will be back home, to deal with the land's life again. Right now, it is all about looking for drowning, searching for salt lips and melting on them under the pier, in the dim light of a newly-born moon.   
They kiss softly, and talk. Not much, but they talk. Better yet, Nagisa talks, Haruka listens. It is what they both want.  
"... and I told my mother I'm never getting married. She was like: 'when you meet the right person you'll change your mind'." He giggles, sarcastically, with his fingers rushing through Haruka's hair.  
"Married... when two humans bond for life?" The other asks, with his grasp tightening around Nagisa, who hums.  
"Yep. She still doesn't know about us. And I don't wanna tell anyone either. This is just ours, eh? And I'm not getting married. My bond for life is with you," he replies with a steady, certain voice.   
Haruka tilts his head, wondering. Is that going to be true? Is Nagisa really going to keep this going, despite the many limitations of it? Still, he keeps silent, cradling his love into his arms with the tail and human legs both working to keep them floating. Sometimes, it is too straining, but they swim through it, sometimes delve in the depths as much as Nagisa can stand it by breathing through gulps of Haruka's hair. He likes those life-giving kisses. Once, he almost drowned, and when he woke up it became clear Haruka had saved him, despite barely knowing each other. And since then, he intertwined his fingers with the merman's, and never let go.   
  
They keep hidden for a long time, until Nagisa's eyelids begin drooping, and as much as he tries he does give clear signs that he is too tired, both from his day job and swimming at night.  
"I think you should go home," Haruka hums, even though he would love to stay like this all night. The blond younger boy tries protesting, but a big yawn comes halfway through, at which point he cannot lie anymore.  
"Fine, but come back tomorrow," he retorts, accompanying it with a warning, slightly scared look. If Haruka had to disappear, he would never know where to look.  
"I always do," the merman replies, with patience, along with an omnipresent sadness that raises up to his throat every time he watches his human leave. Nagisa taught him so many things, showed him so many places, took him to see things he would have never imagined. And has been loving him, proved it with every look, protected him the same way Haruka protects him from the dangers of water. They have tamed their worlds for the other.  
  
When Nagisa hoists himself back on the pier, he sits back the same way he was before, and smiles bubbly.  
"Good night, Haru-chan," he slurs out, tired.  
"Tomorrow?" Haruka asks, floating with a hopeful, happy, yet resigned look. The same resignation mirrors on Nagisa's face.  
"Tomorrow."

**Author's Note:**

> Well, honestly this was written to reach my monthly threshold of 2000 words (this year I was very prolific for my average, but this month was the less inspired one and honestly I'm worrying a little about hitting another writer's block XD)   
> buuuut I also wanted to write something else for Mizzy so this is for u bb <3333   
> And there's not much else to say. It might not make much sense because it originates from a rp thread we feel very feelsy feels for, but anyway-- whatever. Sorry if it's a bit confusing. It's a what if? story, because originally Haru gives up his merman nature to stay with Nagisa, in this case he couldn't. S O R R Y N O T S O R R Y B)


End file.
